Just a little victory
by Heat Castle
Summary: And when everything is said and done, Henry just needs to sit and talk to his mom.


**Title**: Just a little victory

**Summary**: And when everything is said and done, Henry just needs to sit and talk to his mom.

**Characters**: Regina Mills, Henry Mills, Robin Hood, David Nolan

**Pairing**: Robin/Regina

**Rating**: K

**A/N**: And this is just another piece. A missing moment right after Kansas. Oh, and a friendly reminder that mistakes happen for English is not my first language, so bear with me.

**Disclaimer**: Nothing is mine and the usual blah, blah, blah.

xxx

"Grandpa, where's my mom?" Henry asked.

There was a heavy concern over his face and David looked at his grandson admiring how grown up he really was. He was growing to be a great man. Henry had certainly gone throw a lot, but all of it made him this loving boy, whom he loved very much.

"Which one?" David smiled.

"Regina, of course!" David eyed him, suspiciously. "C'mon grandpa, you know she was the one in real danger. Besides, I've already seen Emma."

"Yeah!" David agreed. "She stayed behind with Robin. I guess they were heading to the station to imprison Zelena."

"She's alive?" Henry asked truly surprised.

He thought someone was bound to die; after all, they were facing an evil witch who wanted to change the past and wipe their existences away. That couldn't have gone through without loss of life, or so he thought.

"Yes, she is. Rumplestiltskin wanted to kill Zelena as soon as Regina took her pendant away from her. He was ready to kill her, but your mother didn't let him do it."

"She didn't?"

"No, she didn't." David smiled, really pleased with Regina's decision.

"How?"

"She performed light magic, Henry. I guess your encouragement helped her, your support gave her enough confidence and she did knock Zelena down. I'm not gonna lie, I was impressed. I never thought I'd live to see Regina doing light magic or any good magic at all. Coming to think of it, I never thought Regina would be the one to help save my son."

"I knew she could, I knew it!" Henry was practically bouncing with had a broad smile on his face, a glint of pride in his eyes.

David stared at his wife holding their baby, a loving smile gracing her features. He suddenly felt very grateful for Snow's undying trust in Regina's redemption.

"Anyway, she took the dagger and stopped Rumplestiltskin from killing Zelena. I guess this really marks her as a hero now." David smile again.

"Yes, it does!"

"You need to know a few things that happened in the missing year. Someday I'll tell you."

"You owe me this story, grandpa!" Henry was now looking for Emma. She vanished after their little reunion in the hospital room.

He knew something was up, but he couldn't really understand what was bothering her so much lately. Deciding he wasn't going to wait for her, Henry asked David to tell his mother that he was going to Regina's.

"Henry!" David called out.

"Yes!"  
"I'm proud of you!" The young man frowned.

"Why?"

"Because you stayed true to yourself all the time. You trusting Regina helped us in the long run, especially me, to unconditionally believe in her. You have no idea how important that was."

He smiled and turned his back. He needed to find his mom.

* * *

The pendant was safe and sound in her vault. For the first time in a long, long time Regina felt the sweetness of victory warming her whole soul. Her heart was safe in her chest again, and the man embracing her was as talkative as ever.

"I'm glad you believed in yourself. I'm glad you let Henry help you today."

"You did it too. I'm not sure if it would've worked without the both of you." She smiles shyly, and he finds it endearing.

She drips confidence and power, but sometimes this shyness takes over and she averts her eyes, cheeks colored in a bright pink. He finds her irresistibly adorable.

"Perhaps, but you had to believe in yourself, Regina. Sometimes it's not easy doing that, but you did it, and I'm proud of you." They were now near the backdoor of her house. She stopped and he looked curiously at her. "What is it?" She said nothing, just held him by the lapel of his jacket and much like the first kiss they shared, she took him by surprise. Not that he minded being kissed like this, but he definitely needed to surprise her some more.

He let his bow fall to the floor and wrapped his arms firmly around her slim form, enjoying her warmth. A hand slid to her waist, and he brought her body impossibly closer, his other hand obviously lost in her hair, massaging her scalp, sending shiver down her spine; he could feel her body vibrating with their closeness, a moan vibrating deep in throat.

They heard someone approaching; a voice calling out in the distance. They parted long enough to breathe again, but Regina kept her hand over his heart, feeling it beat fast. She took his and put it over hers, and Robin felt it beating just as fast as his.

"You have no idea how relieved I am," he whispered lightly. "I was scared that your sister was going to actually harm you."

"If her plans had worked, I wouldn't be here now, nor would you." She held his face and looked him with such tenderness and gratitude spread all over her face that Robin felt the need to lean forward and rest his forehead against hers, her warm breath tickling his lips. He sighed, closing his eyes.

"I'm glad she failed," he said, opening his eyes. Blue and brown locked in an intimate stare. He could swear he was looking directly into her soul. "I'm not interested in a world without you." He whispered tenderly, before taking her in his arms and kissing her again.

She felt protected and lost at the same time. He always sought her permission to deepen his kisses. And never really touched her beyond the limits he thought acceptable. This chivalry of his was equally endearing and frustrating. He was holding himself back, and she got the impression that it was getting harder to do so. In contrast, it was getting really difficult not losing track of everything around her when he kissed her like that.

"This is getting old, you know?!" Henry's voice startled them. Regina wasn't really familiar with Henry's changing of voice yet. It was getting deeper every time they talked. Her boy was growing up faster than she wanted him to.

"What's getting old?" Regina asked, trying to act normal, not really sure if her cheeks were burning only because Henry caught her kissing Robin. Again.

"Isn't it obvious? Me catching the love birds kissing, of course!" He said, mocking annoyance in his young face.

"Henry!"  
"What?" He asked, a sweet smile lighting up his whole face. "I'm not lying, anyway." Regina looked at him and laughed loudly. Robin put a protective arm around her shoulders.

"Is everything all right, Henry?" He asked politely. "How's the baby?"

"He's fine. When I left he was sound asleep in grandma's arms."

"He is so cute." Regina said, a light shining in her eyes, and Robin never thought she could look more beautiful than she already was.

"Mom, can I talk to you?" Henry looked at her, and she looked at Robin.  
"I'll leave you now. I have to get back to Roland. I see you tomorrow." He looked at Regina and smiled, a sudden happiness washing over his heart. "Good night, milady!" He leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly.

"Good night!" She had a dreamy look in her face, and a beautiful smile gracing her features. It was a beautiful sight to behold, Henry thought. He had a little thing to do before talking to his mom, though.

* * *

"Robin, wait!" Henry ran to him when he was reaching the front door.

"Yes, Henry."

"May I warn you about something?" Robin thought about all those "she's the evil queen" speeches he had been listening lately, but what came next caught him off guard. "If you hurt my mom in any way, you'll know why I'm the Evil Queen's son." Robin looked at Henry, believing in his words before seeing the playful glint in his eyes.

"You almost, almost made me believe in this 'threat', Henry!"

"It's not a threat at all, but I'm serious here. Please, don't hurt her. More than anyone in this town, she deserves to be happy, and have some peace as well. You have no idea how far she's come until now."

The man was astonished with the dark haired boy in front of him. Respect was never something he gave easily to others, but Henry earned his quite fast.

"I guarantee you that my intentions are the most serious, Henry. If there's a person as interested in her happiness as you, this person is me. I assure you, if depends only on me, I will never hurt her."

Henry looked at him for a long moment, considering his words. He may be the prince of thieves, but he surely was an honorable man who stood by her side when she needed it the most.

"So, welcome to the most dysfunctional family in town." Henry laughed out loud. Robin smirked, shaking his head. He excused himself and left; he still had to pick Roland up at Granny's.

He turned his head and shot a glance to the dark haired woman standing with her arms crossed over her chest, waiting for her protective son. Something big was growing between them, he could feel it in his bones; Robin inhaled her scent that was still around him and knew that he wasn't going to get back to his lonely days, even if destiny threw a rock at him. He left the property, feeling happier than ever before.

* * *

"What were you two talking about?" Regina shot a suspicious look at Henry.

"Nothing!" He answered innocently.

"Spill it, Henry! You never talk to someone for nothing."

"This only proves how well you know me, mom. Don't worry, I was just threatening him if he does anything to hurt you." Henry said as though it was the most common thing to threat her mom's boyfriend.

"Henry!" She was genuinely shocked. He had to laugh.

"Calm down, mom! I'm just kidding. But I did tell him that he will be in trouble if he ever hurts you." He suddenly looked taller than he actually was. His look was at the same time protective and playful. She loved to know that he was concerned with her. As though reading her mind he added, "I don't want you to be sad ever again, mom. The Queen must be happy, because she is the most beautiful person with that smile."

"I apparently raised a gentleman, or David has been teaching you."

"Both." He smiled.

Regina came closer and hugged him by the waist, pulling him to the house. Entering the kitchen she started to move around to fix something for both of them to eat. "You said you wanted to talk to me, Henry. What is it?" She asked.

Henry sat at the table and observed her for a while. She was so different now, so light and seemed incredibly free. It was like she was glowing from the inside. There was a light shining through her eyes that was a direct defiance to the dark looks she always had at any occasion. He knew the darkness was always going to lurk inside, hidden, ready to take over at any given chance, but if Henry knew anything about his mother is that she wasn't one to regret the things she did, and he wanted to keep that warm feeling in his heart that finally the Evil Queen was put at rest. A delicious smell reached his nostrils and his mouth watered.

"What are you doing there?"

"Just a special treat, you'll see." She smiled lovingly and kept doing whatever she was doing.  
"I guess you need to know that I'm proud of you, mom." Regina didn't look at him, but felt her heart hammering in her chest. It felt good to have her heart back, otherwise she wouldn't be feeling as overjoyed as she was right now.

"Why is that?"

"You defeated Zelena, performed light magic, didn't let Mr. Gold kill her. Well, I guess you really are a hero now."

"I'm happy that you think I am a hero. It's what matters to me right now." She put a plate in front of him and there it was: pizza!

"Oh! That is some treat."

He laughed and attacked his plate, realizing just then how hungry he was. They chatted about everything and anything, laughing lightly and even making plans for the summer. Henry was going to stay, Storybrooke was his home after all, but he wanted to go back to NY to visit his friends and take his transfer from school. He finished his plate and sipped the orange juice Regina served him.

"I have to admit mom, I thought someone was going to die when you and the others left to confront Zelena."

"I thought the same." A dark shadow covered her eyes but was quickly gone. "I thought I was going to die. As I said, I was not really sure I could survive another round with her."

"She was not really expecting you to perform light magic. I know it's something that comes from love, but what was going through your head when it happened?"

Regina considered his question. She could've told him many things, all of them were true, but none quite covered the real reason why she was able to perform the so precious light magic.

"I never thought I could do it because I really never let love be the center of my magic before. Pain, loss, revenge, anger were always at the core of anything I did with magic. My heart darkened through the years because I let it happen. And when I had moments of clarity, in which I felt disgusted with myself, I felt the loneliness heavy in my heart, like no one in the world would ever really care for me because I was the terrible Evil Queen." Henry noticed her choice of word. She was the Evil Queen.

She sighed and looked into Henry's eyes before taking his hand and squeezing it lightly.

"Were these moments frequent?" He put his plate aside and held both Regina's hand, looking straight to her eyes, reassuring her that he was there for her as well.

"Not as much as they should. Revenge blinds, Henry. It's something that you really don't understand until you're drowning in it. Then, when you try to save yourself somehow, it freezes your body and mind in a state of fear. I've lost so much, but when I lost hope in everything, especially love, that's when I was stuck in anger, frozen and actually unwilling to leave that. I admit that pursuing Snow White gave me purpose for a long time, but eventually I lost interest in killing her. Tormenting her and making her life as miserable as mine was became my prior goal. And so much for lies and selfish wishes."

"I figure you're going to clarify this last piece for me later, right?" Henry let go of her hand just to take a long gulp of his juice. Setting the glass aside, he turned his full attention to his mom.

"Maybe. I'm not sure if we should keep remembering things from the past. Sometimes it's better to let the past where it belongs."

"Of course, you're right, but if at any time you want to talk about it, I'm here."  
Regina could hardly believe that her boy, the one she held close to her heart during thunderstorms and ice cold nights, was growing up so fast, becoming a wise and lovely young man.  
"Mom, you didn't finish what you were saying about how you felt when performing light magic."  
"Oh yes, right! Where was I?"

"You were saying that love was never the source of your magic."

"Oh, ok! So, Zelena lifted me from the ground, strangling me and said I couldn't defeat her because I was dark, that this was my destiny, to be an evil woman. I've never felt so pissed off with someone as I felt with her at that moment. She didn't have the right to say who I was."

"Oh, she did the worst thing possible." Now was her turn to laugh. _Indeed_, she tought.

"Well, at first I felt a rush of anger and it wasn't helpful in any way. But then I saw movement and Robin was approaching where she had put my heart. And right before he got my heart back, I thought about you and what you told me. I thought about everything we've been through since you went all the way to Boston to bring Emma here. Everything I did to earn your love again. I thought about the life I wanted to have from now on. I thought about Robin too. I even thought about Daniel. Everything good that happened in my life, that's what went through my mind."

Henry chose to say nothing and squeezed her hands, smiling at her. He knew she was more than happy to have him by her side, supporting her, and he was glad that she was now really changed. In all honesty, three years ago he would've laughed with the thought of her changing, but breaking a curse with a true love's kiss and defeating a dark witch with light magic was enough for him to never doubt her again.

###

A/N² - That's it, peeps! Thank you very much for reading it. It means a lot and it makes me happy. Of course, reviews are the air that I breathe, and writing them actually save pandas. I'm telling you! Anyway, thanks again! \o "Grandpa, where's my mom?" Henry asked. There was a heavy concern over his face and David looked at his grandson admiring how grown up he really was. Not only physically but also as a young man. Henry had certainly gone throw a lot, but all of it made him this loving boy, whom he loved very much.


End file.
